Venture Brothers Recap – 0601 Hostile Makeover

After a year long hiatus, we’re picking up right from where we last left off – The Ventures are moving to NYC to settle into their new lofty place thanks to inheritance from Jonas Jr Venture

It’s a full swing towards the status quo as Gray/Henchman 21 and the Monarch get back into the groovy which gets out of hand really quick while Ms Monarch is trying to put the guild back on track after The Sovereign nearly burnt it all to the ground – It’s gonna be rough as she’s forced to make a deal with the NYC representative, Wide Wale.

Even Brock is back on Team Venture as Sgt Hatred is forced into reassignment by OSI. It’s desk work from now on as Colonel Gathers lays out the terms, much to the dismay of Hatred.

With all their new cash, Hank has already picked up some fancy habits and dressing up as notable celebrity with the initials JB. This becomes a like father, like son kind of deal as Rusty is no better when it comes to spending money, having decided to patch things up with an old tailor from Little Italy in order to get new speed suit code named The Ambassador.

The episode manages to tie everything together in the end as a situation involving Hank sneaking a peek at the girl next door leads into a misunderstanding that gets blown out of proportion on all accounts. Hank thinks that the girl in the pool is drowning and he quickly leaps into action, borrowing a grappling hook from Brock in haste as he handles it like a pro whilst swinging into action. All of this is seen by Stars & Garter as the CAL assembles to save Hank and they mistakenly believe that Brock pushed Hank into his heroic moment.

Tension escalate as Fallen Arches decides to subdue Brock but it instead unleashes the berserk mode that is Brock. A brief intervention from Stars & Garter puts it back in CAL’s favor but it comes to a stand still as Night Dick saves Hank and Rusty Venture comes out to see what the hell is going on. On the flip side, Gary and Monarch have survived their elevator trip with the Pirate Captain and Ms Monarch has to break some bad news to the Monarch – his arching rights to Venture have been given to Wide Wale.

Some highlights from the episode

– Full on 90’s rap parody as musical montage to welcome the Ventures to their new place

– Ms Monarch gets the spotlight in a similar fashion to previous episode as she becomes the de facto figure head for the Guild

– Gary and Monarch henching attempts makes it feel like old times specially once they run into Pirate Captain and his tranq addiction issue

– Pirate Captain goes to a dark place as it gets intense in the elevator “We’re locked in the elevator with the Devil just like in that movie, Devil!”

– NIGHT DICK – Hilariously over the top and the name that makes you snicker like Hank, probably the most original mishmash of hero parodies compared to the others.

– CAL vs Brock! The only thing that can stop Brock in full on rage mode is Warriana which leads to some sexy confessions from Brock

Hidden Lore/Future Theories/Quotables

– With Brock being part of the Ventures, what will Hatred do other than loiter about and pester the Ventures with trying to prove his worth? So pretty much the standard for Hatred.

– “KILLINGER, KILLINGER, KILLINGER!” “He’s not Beetlejuice, you lunatic!” – We find out what the council was like before The Sovereign became the leader. They even host the meeting at the villain night club from season 5, Brick Frog is in the back. The NYC charter being a reference to Kingpin/Tobias Whale in the form of Wide Wale

– Gary and Monarch’s character dynamic, both of them work so well together despite not being able to even get past the elevator. Rosetta Stone promotion.

– The tailor and Rusty making it right “No, Brock. It’s a Sicilian thing.”

– Ms Monarch had to give up arching rights to Wide Wale, much to Monarch’s future regret.

– Brock’s heart to heart talk with Hank

“Look Hank, what chicks really dig is a guy who is confident enough to be himself like Steven McQueen.”
“Who?”
“Ugh, google him.”

This would explain Hank having a certain inspired choice of a jacket in the promo trailer.